Mercedes-Benz "Soul" Shines Through

Industry data shows MBUSA CLA ad scores big during
Super Bowl XLVII

MONTVALE, NJ--Feb. 7, 2013: The perennial discussion among
industry pundits about the Super Bowl, the largest and most watched
sporting event of the year, is:† are the millions of dollars spent on Game
Day airtime worth the investment?† Most experts say that it depends on the
expectation and the execution.

Ask Steve Cannon, president and CEO of
Mercedes-Benz USA what he wanted from the
multi-prong marketing campaign the company put together for Super Bowl
XLVII and he will say, "The goal was to create a compelling story which
would introduce a new product --our 2014 CLA coupe -- at a
first-ever price point in a way that would not only get people talking but
also begin to get them interested and engaged."

According to Cannon -- and various industry barometers --
the campaign that Mercedes-Benz launched on January
20th did just that.

Right off the top, Mercedes-Benz benefited from the fact that the game
was played at the "Mercedes-Benz Superdome" (the company invested in naming
rights in 2011).†ImageTrack powered by Kantar Media --
IEG's sponsorship/advertising broadcast monitoring service --
projected that this would result in Mercedes-Benz receiving 6 minutes and
19 seconds of exposure during the game, valued at approximately $4.6 million. If the fourth-quarter for the CLA was
then included, the total media exposure value was projected to exceed $12 million.

The campaign itself consisted of five elements.† An advertising teaser
campaign with four: 15 spots and one :30 went into rotation during the AFC
championships on January 20 queuing up the ad
with the "Something‚€¶is coming," tag.† Two days later, the company
released an online video (the parody of the stereotypical bikini clad model
washing a car had Kate Upton playing to the
camera while a bevy of good-looking young guys soaped up her car) which
went viral and garnered close to three million views by the next day
without the benefit of any paid media (it's now at 7 million).† This was
followed by a long-form version of the Super Bowl ad "Soul" and then a
"Behind the Scenes" online video.†Combined, these four creative
executions netted nearly 10 million views before the final element, the
60-second version of the ad was released (to date, that tally is well over
13 million).

"But," notes Bernie Glaser, VP of
marketing for MBUSA "To really amortize your investment, you've got to go
deeper than measuring entertainment popularity. The real magic lies in
converting awareness into consumer interest.† Engaging people enough to go
out of their way to find out more about your product -- that's the real
payout."

The ad itself, set in New Orleans where
MBUSA has strong philanthropic ties in addition to its presence there,
drives home an actual selling point -- the CLA's price.†
Created by Merkley+Partners (NYC), the
storyline involves a devilish Willem Dafoe
offering a young man a Mercedes CLA and all that comes with it -- a red
carpet moment with Kate Upton, a dance-off
with Usher, a drive on the Formula 1 racetrack etc.--in
exchange for his soul.† But just when the young guy is about to make the
deal, he spies a billboard touting the CLA's MSRP of $29,900 and vanquishes Dafoe saying "I think I've
got this."

And, as the various industry ad metrics started to roll in, data shows
that MBUSA's spot itself "got this" and a whole lot more with
audiences.

According to Ace Metrics, an independent analytics company which
measures advertising effectiveness, "Soul" scored the highest of any
automotive advertisement and tied for the 4th highest score overall for all
ads on the Super Bowl.

As far as concrete evidence of effectiveness and engagement,
Edmunds.com, one of the leading car information sites where potential
buyers go to do their research, reported that the CLA had the highest jump
in vehicle consideration both during the Game and in the 24-hour period
that followed.† Nearly one out of every five consumer searches during
the fourth quarter was for the new sporty four-door coupe.† In fact,
queries for the entire Mercedes-Benz brand on the Edmunds website were up
122% from the average of the four previous Sundays, giving the brand the
number one spot for consideration among all luxury makes during the
Game.

"The CLA was the number one shopped vehicle on Edmunds.com over the
weekend," said Vice Chairman Jeremy Anwyl
from Edmunds.com. "It is the best performing ad campaign I have seen since
I started tracking Super Bowl ad performance. The CLA obviously connected
with a vast audience, demonstrating Mercedes
Benz is enjoying early success as it reaches to a new generation of
luxury vehicle buyers."

Looking ahead, the ad has its second broadcast appearance during the
Academy Awards in late February. Its biggest star, the CLA, makes a
brief appearance at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week starting today and will
appear at the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and other high-profile events
that MBUSA sponsors. Digital and social media activations will be
released over the next few months (the company's Facebook page
Facebook.com/Mercedes-Benz USA is
currently offering select fans an opportunity to see the CLA in an
expense-paid trip to New York in
conjunction with the New York Auto Show) as the September launch of the
sporty 208--hp four-door coupe draws near.

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